


Brave the Rain

by Anonymous



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Dub names, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-11-01
Packaged: 2019-01-22 15:32:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12484896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: AU. In Barian World, Nash and Marin fall. In Heartland, Yuma finds two children in the rain — and takes them home, of course.(Other tags and characters to be added... as I figure out where the story is going.)





	1. The city in the rain

**Summary:** AU. In Barian World, Nash and Marin fall. In Heartland, Yuma finds two children in the rain — and takes them home, of course. 

 

**Notes:** Dub names because I watched the dub (I am a scrub, yes, yes). Fic name and chapter titles come from “Brave the Ocean” from re:Creators.  

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 1: The city in the rain**

 

Rain pounded down across Heartland, so thick that it felt almost like walking through a waterfall. Even the city’s ever present lights were all but drowned out, and the streets stood empty, the residents bolted down in their homes against the sudden, unseasonal storm. 

 

None of this deterred Yuma. If anything, the unfamiliar, barely visible city full of noise and empty of people was all the more exciting. Jogging through the streets, water sluicing off his raincoat, was like exploring an unknown, secret place — like the stories his mom and dad told him. 

 

He laughed a little, grinning despite the cold air stinging the back of his throat. His breath misted in front of his face for a moment. His hands were cold too, wet from the rivulets streaming down his coat sleeves, but he wasn’t ready to head back yet. At the very least, he wanted to make it down to the river. How loud would it be, swollen from the rain? 

 

‘Maybe it’s roaring like a dragon!’ he thought excitedly. 

 

His grin widening, Yuma picked up the pace. 

 

He should have been getting close, the path would open up into one of the main avenues up ahead and it would lead to the riverbank... or so he thought. It was hard to recognize any of the landmarks in the rain and the dark, and Yuma slowed as he saw something that didn’t match his memories — a looming shape of a statue that he was certain didn’t belong anywhere near where he was. 

 

Squinting, he reached up to hold the sagging edge of his hood out of his eyes. “Did I get turned around?” he muttered to himself. “Um... which one is that? It doesn’t look like the Mr. Hearland statue by the academy...” 

 

The shape was all wrong, too broad and the cape different from Mr. Heartland’s coat tails. He didn’t recognize it at all. Yuma shivered, realizing for the first time that maybe running around in the rain like this hadn’t been the idea. He hoped he hadn’t gotten completely lost—

 

He stopped, halting mid-step. His eyes widened, his breath catching in surprise. Because the statue... had moved. 

 

It wasn’t just a trick of the rain. Right in front of his eyes, the giant blurred shape kneeled, lowering one hand — cupped as if holding something — to the ground. It was still too far for Yuma to see anything else, but he was certain that it tilted its head and looked straight at him. Just past the edge of his hearing, there might have been something like a voice, but it was gone before he could even register it. 

 

And in the space between one breath and the next, the towering shape vanished too. The rain that had been parted by its presence closed together again, covering the empty space with a loud, sudden splash that made Yuma jump. 

 

“W-woah!” Breaking out of his shocked stupor, he glanced around frantically, droplets of water flying off his hood. “Where’d it go? What was that?” 

 

There was no answer, and no sound aside from his voice and the rain. He jogged forward, to the place where the giant had been, looking for some sign of its presence. 

 

He almost tripped over the two bodies lying there. 

 

Catching himself at the last moment, Yuma tried to backpedal sharply and pinwheeled his arms to regain his balance. “Phew...” he sighed in relief as he straightened. “But... what’s a couple of kids doing here?” 

 

‘And are they okay?’ the more important thought occurred to him. 

 

The two children lying at his feet were tiny, no older than six or seven. The way their hair and clothing clung to them, soaked to the bone, made them seem even smaller. Yuma was on his knees before he even realized it, waving his hands panic. 

 

“What do I do? What do I do?” he chanted frantically. 

 

Call for help? Abortively, he reached for his Duel Gazer. Would it even work in this weather? He wasn’t sure it was waterproof, and rain this thick might even mess up the reception. And would anyone pick up? How long would it take them to get there? Where were they, even? 

 

Yuma shook his head. “Dad said... if you find someone in trouble,” he reminded himself, thinking back on his father’s lectures from when they went into the wilderness together, “first check their condition. Yeah.” 

 

The children had been clinging to each other, curled up together. Reaching out, Yuma pulled the closest — the boy — toward him and turned him onto his back gingerly. There weren’t any stains on his white and blue clothing, soaked as it was, so at least he didn’t seem to be bleeding... Fingers too cold and numb to feel for a pulse, Yuma placed a hand on the boy’s chest to feel for his heartbeat. 

 

“Gyaaa!” he yelped in surprise as a bright red light erupted suddenly from the cracked pendant around the boy’s neck. 

 

He jumped back — or at least tried to. A hand clamped around his wrist, keeping him in place. 

 

Blinking frantically to clear the spots from his eyes, Yuma stared in shock. The person gripping his arm tight enough to be almost painful, the person right in front of him where the boy had been a moment before, was a teenager a bit older than Yuma — and yet certainly the same person, with the same dark blue hair and the same sharp face. 

 

He hadn’t imagined a child in front of him. But that child had somehow become a decade older in a flash, literally. That was...

 

“So cool!” Yuma blurted out, eyes sparkling. “Hey, hey! How did you do that? I want to get bigger too!” 

 

The other boy blinked, breaking the intense glare he’d fixed — unnoticed — on Yuma. His mouth twisted between several emotions uncertainly, before he finally settled on glaring again. 

 

“Who are you?” he barked, tightening his grip in warning. 

 

“I’m Yuma! Nice to meet you!” Yuma introduced himself. He tried his best to look trustworthy, but he had to blink and sniffle distractedly when cold water dripping from the edge of his hood onto his nose. Reaching up to brush it away with the back of his hand — also wet — he mumbled thickly, “W’ad abou’ you guys?” 

 

Yuma glanced around him at the little girl, and the other teenager froze as he followed his gaze. The crushing hand around Yuma’s wrist dropped away, instead reaching frantically for her — for his sister. His concern was unmistakable in the tenderness and care he cradled her with. 

 

And before he even knew what he was saying, Yuma blurted out—

 

“Do you guys have a place to go? If you don’t... wanna come to my house?” 

 

~.~.~

 

The heavy pounding of rain flooded the house for a moment, drowning out the television in the living room. At least there was no wind, so he didn’t need to worry about water blowing inside, but Yuma hurried to close the door behind him as soon as the other boy stepped inside. 

 

“Grandma, I’m home!” he called out, already wiggling out of his heavy, dripping rain coat and kicking off his boots. 

 

“Welcome back, Yuma!” Haru called back. Turning from the television to them, she raised her eyebrows mildly. “And this is...?” 

 

“Um...” He hadn’t actually gotten a name, had he? 

 

“Call me Shark,” the other boy put in in the same clipped tone as all his other reluctant answers and sharp questions. 

 

“Right!” Yuma agreed, trying to sound like he had already known that. “I ran into him outside. Him and his sister got caught in the storm. Is it okay if they spend the night?” 

 

If his grandmother noticed anything off, she didn’t comment. But, of course, for the mother of famed adventurer Kazuma Tsukumo, this was probably not even close to the top ten strangest visitors she’d received. 

 

“Oh dear, you poor things! I’ll get you some towels to dry off,” she fretted instead, hobbling over to them. “Yuma, dear, find them something to change into. Maybe some of the clothes you haven’t grown into yet.”  

 

“Got it!” Yuma pumped his fist, already hurrying toward the stairs up to his room. 

 

He needed to change too. The bottoms of his pants were soaked all the way through, along with the collar of his t-shirt. A cold drop ran down his spine, and Yuma shuddered, breaking out in goosebumps. Quickly dragging his shirt over his head, he used it to scrub the water off as best he could and tried to do the same to his wet bangs. 

 

By the time he returned downstairs with the baggiest clothes he had and a spare t-shirt, his grandmother had swathed Shark and his sister in what looked like every towel in the house. 

 

“Go ahead and change in Yuma’s room,” Haru urged them, “while he cleans up all this water.” 

 

“Eeeh? Do I have to?” Yuma drew out, only to receive a look that sent him scrambling to obey. 

 

Haru beamed again. “I knew my kind, considerate grandson would take care of it! Now, go ahead, dear, and I’ll whip up something warm for you two!”  

 

That something warm was two bowls of reheated soup that she foisted on Yuma when he sloppily finished cleaning up. Carrying them one handed was difficult, and the soup sloshed ominously whenever he tried to move faster than tiptoeing up the stairs, but it smelled good and Yuma’s stomach rumbled consideringly. Dinner suddenly felt like it had been ages ago. 

 

The door was closed. 

 

Awkwardly trying to juggle the two bowls to free up a hand, he had to finally give up on that notion after scalding himself a little. “Um..” he called out. 

 

To his surprise, the door opened up a crack immediately, and a single blue eye peered out at him suspiciously. “I brought food?” Yuma offered, holding up the bowls. 

 

That seemed to be enough, and the door swung open completely. Shark had changed into the clothes Yuma had given him, and the t-shirt was almost a fit, just tight enough to show the lump of the large pendant tucked under it, but the sweatpant were definitely short. His sister was curled up on the bed in Yuma’s spare shirt, and the wet towels had been neatly piled up in one corner. There was no sign of what they’d been wearing before. 

 

“Here,” Yuma said, holding out both bowls. 

 

However, Shark only took one and looked down into it with the same dubious expression as before. 

 

“It’s soup,” Yuma said. He glanced at the little girl on the bed, and dropped his voice, finally realizing it might be better to keep quiet. “Grandma made some for both of you. Should we wake her up?” 

 

“She needs to rest,” Shark told him, an angry look daring him to object. 

 

“Gotcha. Then, I’ll have this, okay?” Yuma said, grinning. He held up the other bowl like a toast and took a long gulp. The soup had cooled enough that he didn’t burn his tongue, but only just. Still, the heat was nice as it went down his throat and settled in his stomach. He drained the entire bowl in one go. “Wah! That hits the spot!” 

 

With one last look, Shark took a sip too. Watching him, Yuma bounced on the balls of his feet impatiently. 

 

He received another sharp glare. “You,” Shark snapped, “what do you want?” 

 

That was the opening Yuma had been waiting for. “So what was that?” he asked eagerly. “That giant? And then the way you change! How did you do that? Where did come from? You don’t look like you’re from around Heartland at all! Why were you out in the rain like that? Who are you guys?!” 

 

The torrent of questions left Shark staring at him, stunned. “A giant? I changed? What are you even talking about?” 

 

Yuma stared back. “You don’t remember? Right before I found you guys, I saw this giant standing in the rain. It looked kind of like... Zubaba Knight, I guess?” he said, reaching over to pull his deck from where he’d left it on his desk and flipping through it until he found the right card. 

 

He held it out to Shark, who accepted it with a frown and started at it closely. He even turned it over, checking the blank back for something. 

 

“Anyway, then it just disappeared,” Yuma went on. “And then I found you guys lying there. But you both the same size! And then there was this light, and you suddenly got bigger! Can you show me I how to do that? It was really cool!” 

 

By the end of his story, Yuma was waving his arms excitedly. At another glare, he settled down a little, but he couldn’t quite stop vibrating with excitement. 

 

“No.”

 

Was the short, blank answer he received. His face fell. 

 

“I can’t show you how to do that. It’s impossible for you,” Shark explained. “I don’t even know...” He trailed off. 

 

“You don’t know what happened either? But why—” 

 

“It’s none of your business!” Shark snapped. 

 

Yuma flinched and ducked his head. “Sorry, I’m being nosey, huh?” he muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. “Um... I always sleep up in the attic anyway, so you guys can stay here for the night. Let me just get my uniform.” 

 

Ignoring the gaze he still felt on him, he picked up the clothes he’d left lying haphazardly that afternoon and sniffed them experimentally. Fresh enough, Yuma supposed. Hopefully Tori wouldn’t nag too much about the wrinkles. 

 

“Why?” Shark asked finally. 

 

“Well, I have school tomorrow morning,” Yuma said. “Unless it gets cancelled. That would be nice...” 

 

“Not that,” he said. “Why are you helping us?” 

 

Because they had looked like they needed it. Because there was no reason not to, in Yuma’s opinion. Because it was the right thing to do. Because he was curious. There were lots reasons. To be honest, he couldn’t really explain it. It had just been his instinct, and he’d gone with it, feeling the flow. 

 

...That didn’t seem like a good answer. 

 

“Hmm...” Yuma drew out, thinking. But in the end, he could only shrug and say, “Why not?” 

 

He didn’t wait for a response before scrambling up the colorful ladder to the attic. Slipping into his hammock, it didn’t take long for him to fall asleep, the sound of the rain pounding against the roof drowning out his thoughts. 

 

~.~.~


	2. Those waiting

**Notes:** There’s thing Zexal does which puzzles me, in that it makes Duel Monster cards exist long ago in the past, when the Barians were originally alive. Like, actual Duel Monster cards, with the attack and defense format, the same style art... it’s bizarre. Yeah, that’s not going to be a thing here. Numbers do exist, but not as cards.  

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 2: Those waiting**

 

Nash didn’t sleep. As a Barian, he had no need to and, after tucking Marin under the blankets, he settled in against the bed. He had to stay on guard in this unfamiliar place... or perhaps anywhere at all. 

 

Closing his eyes, he strained his hearing past the  steady drumbeat of the rain, but it wasn’t long before the house grew otherwise silent. After a while, the overhead lights clicked off, the motion sensor picking up no movement and automatically shutting down. 

 

Nash tensed, waiting for an attack, but nothing came, and he let himself slowly relax again. 

 

As much as he could, that is. Yes, letting down his guard was a mistake he wasn’t going to repeat. Not after leaving himself open had led to... 

 

...What had happened anyway? 

 

‘Vector betrayed us,’ Nash thought harshly, his fists clenching. 

 

That much he remembered clearly. Vector had attacked Marin without warning and taken her hostage. Nash had chased after him, cutting through the seemingly endless ranks of the  Umbral Horror  monsters Vector had summoned. Pillars of crimson crystal bad crumbled under the power of his rage. 

 

Vector had fled toward the red acid sea. Hovering above it, he had dangled Marin by her neck, as he crowed about how much he had always hated Nash, how glad he was to finally get rid of them both. And then... 

 

The rest was an increasingly unclear blur. 

 

His own voice, yelling furiously at Vector. The dark red sea, churning below. Vector, laughing maniacally. Marin, speaking as her eyes shone. 

 

‘...She did something,’ Nash realized, frowning. Yes, his sister had done something. That mysterious power she held had resurfaced, he recognized the signs in retrospect. It must have given her some special knowledge, as always, and she had acted on it. 

 

What had she said? He couldn't remember. 

 

A blinding light had erupted from her, making Vector yelp in surprise and let go. Nash had reached for her, the image of his hand extended toward her glowing figure was seared into his mind...

 

It was blank after that. 

 

They were on Earth, in the human world, that much he could tell easily. Marin must have sent them across dimensions, and the rough passage had drained both of them so much that they reverted to these tiny, weak forms — human forms, suited to Earth. That was the best hypothesis Nash could come up with. 

 

As for why he alone had changed to an older form after arriving... His lips twisted unhappily, and he slid his hand up to rest over his Barian Crystal. 

 

It was possible — no matter how unlikely he considered it to be — that his Barian Crystal had managed to absorb some Chaos energy from that boy, Yuma. Humans were not like Astral beings, who had rejected all the Chaos within them. Earth was not as intrinsically infused with Chaos as Barian world, but the human world was still full of it. Humans themselves, too. Chaos was the passion that drove them, for better or worse. 

 

Of course, what his crystal had absorbed was only a fraction of his usual power, leaving him still only half-grown. ‘Not like a human could have all that much Chaos energy to begin with,’ Nash thought harshly. Just dispersing the strange clothing that had materialized with his human form had been an effort. 

 

With just this much power, if Vector tracked them down to finish what he’d started...

 

Gritting his teeth, Nash forced himself to take a deep breath and think. He needed a plan. He needed to decide what to do, to protect both of them. Vector had betrayed them, and he had to let the others know that before the same thing happened to them—

 

—Or would it? 

 

The thought felt like ice in his core. 

 

Was it just Vector? Was he really acting alone? After all, if one of their number could become a traitor, what was to say the others hadn’t done the same? 

 

Vector had always been at odds with Nash and by extension Marin, true, but how well did they know Mizar either? He had always kept himself isolated from the others, disdaining them in some subtle way Nash hadn’t been able to pin down but had been certain of. And Alito and Girag — weren’t they closer to each other than the others? Could he be certain they weren’t conspiring together? 

 

Only Dumon... Dumon he could trust. 

 

Couldn’t he? 

 

If, if by chance, he was wrong, it wouldn’t be just his own life on the line. Marin would die too, and losing his sister was the one thing Nash couldn’t endure. He had already failed her once, only Marin’s own strength saving them. He couldn’t allow any more mistakes — mistakes like trusting others.

 

‘Marin,’ Nash thought, swallowing heavily, ‘please wake up soon. I can’t do this without you.’ 

 

The only answer was the steady patter of the rain against the roof. 

 

It wasn’t a natural storm. It muffled his senses in a way that a purely weather phenomenon wouldn’t have. There was a magic of some sort within it, even if it was one he couldn’t put a name to, and which was different from anything he’d felt in Barian world. The rain pounded away, interrupted by neither thunder nor wind. 

 

Suddenly, Shark smiled wryly. Maybe that his answer, right there. 

 

Marin had brought them to this world. She thought that this was where they needed to be, to survive. Maybe it was the force of their passage, ripping the fabric between dimensions, that was causing this storm too and covering their tracks. He wouldn’t waste it just waiting around and feeling sorry for himself. Not when his sister was counting on him. For her sake and for the sake of getting back at that bastard Vector, he’d find a way to regain their true power. 

 

_ ‘...waiting... awaken... king...’ _

 

Jerking his head up, Nash snapped his gaze around the room. He was sure he’d heard a voice, calling something unintelligible to him. But as the lights flickered on automatically from his movement, the room stood empty. 

 

That voice, he thought, had been familiar. 

 

~.~.~

 

If his family had been able to hear the words Yuma was muttering under his breath, they would have certainly washed his mouth out with their strongest soap. 

 

But he couldn’t help it! He’d tried so hard to be quiet as he headed down the ladder, out of consideration for his guests, but he ended up tripping anyway. His cursing was drowned out by the dull thud as he hit the bedroom floor anyway. 

 

Rubbing the rising bump on his head, Yuma rolled to his feet and cringed as his eyes met Shark’s. He was getting glared at again, which he admittedly deserved. 

 

“Sorry...” he mouthed. “How is she?” 

 

“Still resting,” was the short response he received. 

 

Yuma hummed in acknowledgement, glancing at her again with a concerned look. “School got cancelled, ‘cause of the rain. A lot of roads got flooded and stuff,” he said. “So I’m just going down to get breakfast. I’ll bring you up some too.” 

 

“Wait.” 

 

Yuma stopped, hand already reaching for the doorknob, and obediently looked back. 

 

“Is there any place in this city where many people with strong emotions gather?” Shark asked. 

 

“You mean like... a concert? Or a big game?” Yuma guessed. “If there was anything, it probably got cancelled too.”

 

“Tch!” Turning away, Shark clicked his tongue angrily. 

 

Downstairs, Haru was already up and in the middle of cooking. “Morning, Yuma!” she greeted him. “Are you friends staying for breakfast?” 

 

“Yeah, I think so. But can we eat upstairs? Shark’s sis is still sleeping,” he said. “Kari’s still out?” 

 

“She’s still out looking into something for Kazuma and Mira,” his grandmother said. “They all work too hard. It’s been so long since I’ve seen those two, too. It would be nice to have the whole family together again, wouldn’t it? I hope they finish up this long job soon...” 

 

“Yeah,” Yuma agreed quietly. He pursed his lips sulkily, glaring at the plates he’d started pulling out. “Or even just tell me what they’re doing. How come I’m the only one who can’t help out?” 

 

They had explained it to him, of course. He was still a kid, and he had school. He couldn’t go traveling all the world like his parents, and he couldn’t research leads for them like Kari could. Kazuma had promised to take him on another trip, just the two of them like when he was small, once this mysterious job of theirs was over, but Yuma couldn’t deny that he felt left out. 

 

“There, there,” Haru reached over and patted him on the head. “I’m sure they’ll tell you all about it later. And meanwhile, you can have lots of adventures on your own, right? When you tell them about it later, they’ll all be jealous they missed out!” 

 

“...Right!” Yuma laughed. “I’m going to have lots of adventures today! Thanks, Grandma!” 

 

He was grinning as he accepted the tray of food she handed him and rushed back upstairs. 

 

“I’m back!” he announced, bursting back into his bedroom. He ignored the glare he received. “I was thinking, Shark! Let’s go out! You’re looking for places with lots of people, then we can go to the mall. It’s all indoors, so there might be people there anyway!” 

 

“Keep it down,” Shark said flatly. Fortunately, he hadn’t disturbed the girl, who remained unresponsive on the bed. 

 

Yuma winced. He’d forgotten again. “Sorry,” he whispered, moving carefully to the desk and setting down the breakfast tray. “But do you wanna go? Or... I guess you want to stay with your sister, right?”

 

The answer didn’t come immediately. Shark hesitated, frowning. “No,” he said finally. “Let’s go.” 

 

“She’ll be okay,” Yuma said, patting him awkwardly on the shoulder. “Grandma’ll be here if she wakes up.” 

 

Pulling away pointedly, Shark muttered under his breath, “It doesn’t matter. There’s no point in sitting around anyway.” 

 

~.~.~


	3. What I can do

**Notes:** Kinda boring transition chapter, whoops. Yeah, I have no idea where this going, sorry. 

 

~.~.~

 

**Chapter 3: What I can do**

 

“That was so cool! How did you do that? Are you sure you can’t teach me? Because if I could just change clothes like that, Kari would never get to nag me about laundry ever again!” Yuma gushed, prancing excitedly around Nash. 

 

The last straw was when he tried to lift the edge of his coat, fingering the thick dark fabric with interest. Being a copy of the cloaks the Barian Emperors favored when traveling, perhaps it felt different from human clothing, but Yuma’s interest was more because he had seen Nash materialize it using Chaos energy. 

 

At the time, Nash had decided it was the fastest, simplest solution. The hood and long coat would protect him well enough from the continuing rain, better than trying to figure out something from among Yuma’s clothing. And the boy had already seen him change from a child to a teenage with little comment, so it seemed safe enough to reveal...

 

Nash was regretting it now, as the edge of Yuma’s umbrella carelessly jabbed him in the head. 

 

“Enough already!” he roared, yanking his coat tails out of Yuma’s grasp. “Quit it!” 

 

Humans were terrible. And they were going to a place with even more humans, all packed together. That pounding behind his eyeballs was certainly the prelude of a massive headache. This had been a bad idea. 

 

He couldn’t quite push down the worry gnawing at him either. Would Marin be alright alone? Nash knew, logically, that trying to stay by her side wouldn’t help either of them. He had left a seal on the door — hopefully, if the old woman tried to enter, she’d assume it was just locked — but would it be enough? 

 

...With his current state, being there himself wouldn’t be enough if someone attacked them. 

 

“There it is! It’s just up ahead!” Yuma piped up excitedly, jabbing his finger at a sprawling building. 

 

‘About time,’ Nash thought, sighing. He didn’t mind the rain, but being out in the open made him uneasy. 

 

There was a steady stream of people moving in and out of the doors, the most they had seen on their entire trip through Heartland, and the two boys slipped inside with a group of other visitors. Shark wrinkled his nose as a nearly palpable wall of heat and noise washed over him with the first steps inside, the dull pounding of the rain changing to the echoing roar of voices. It felt stifling. 

 

His hand drifted up to rest against his Barian Crystal, the pendant hidden under his coat, and he mentally reached out, feeling the energy in the air. Nash grimaced. It was there... but so weak. Just this wouldn’t be enough. 

 

“Come on, let’s go to the food court!” Yuma decided. 

 

That was the only warning Nash had before he found himself unceremoniously dragged along by the hand. Unsettlingly, his Barian Crystal pulsed faintly. ‘Don’t tell me I’m going to have to touch everyone to gather their Chaos energy...’ Nash thought. Not only was the idea unappealing at best, it was also not something he could do subtly. 

 

“Food court? We just ate,” he commented, Yuma’s words finally sinking in. 

 

Yuma laughed. “Yeah! But that’s where there’s the most people. Maybe some of my classmates are there. Or maybe there’s a duel going on!” He glanced back. “What are you looking for, anyway?” 

 

“A duel?” Shark repeated, with a spark of interest. A battle brought out Chaos, which would suit his needs quite well. 

 

“You don’t know about Duel Monsters? It’s the most coolest thing ever!” Yuma exclaimed. “You summon monsters from your deck and go like bam! Until all their life points are gone. Or yours. You saw my deck yesterday, remember? I showed you a card.” 

 

The explanation wasn’t very enlightening, but Nash did remember the card. It had caught his interest because he could feel the faintest trace of magic in it. It felt like a magic tool — a medium for summoning. The small size had been impressive, if it worked. 

 

“Oh! Looks like there’s a duel going on already! Come on!” There was a sharp tug on his hand as Yuma picked up speed, dragging him toward where the crowd was thickest, but forming a familiar circle around a spectacle. 

 

A ripple of cheer-groan swelled through the people around them, reacting to something Shark couldn’t see. A voice called out commands, followed by another yelling something angrily. It certainly sounded like a match. Emotion and energy thrummed around them, building with every unseen back and forth. 

 

Feeling excitement rising, Nash picked up the pace and lent his elbows to pushing their way to the front of the circle. Finally, they broke through—

 

It was empty. Nash blinked in confusion, glancing left and right. But no matter how he looked, the impromptu arena that everyone was staring into remained empty except for two teenager, standing at opposite ends, their arms out awkwardly. 

 

Next to him, Yuma fumbled with something and reached up to pull it over his face — a single colored lense. Immediately, his expression changed, anticipation turning to excitement. 

 

With a quick glance around the distracted audience, Nash could see that the other humans all wore similar devices, each over one eye. ‘So there’s something there,’ he thought. ‘It just can’t be seen with eyes alone.’ And indeed, he could feel it, a weak but undeniable shift of power in the center of the ring. 

 

“Attack, Aye-Iron!” one of the duelists ordered. “Destroy his Debugger Y!” 

 

A gust of wind swept across the field, buffering the opposing duelist. The crowd roared. 

 

Reaching up, Nash covered one eye and concentrated. Something like this was easy for a Barian Emperor, and when he lowered his hand, a new world had appeared in front of his left eye. A mechanical creature jumped backward over the field, landing above its master, who smirked and declared the end of his ‘turn.’ 

 

“Draw!” his opponent declared unhappily, pulling the top card from the deck clamped onto his arm. His expression gave away that it was not what he had hoped for. But, frowning, he forged on. “From my hand, I play the magic card—” 

 

“Ah!” Yuma exclaimed suddenly, drawing Nash’s attention. “Shark, I’m sorry! If you don’t know about Duel Monsters, of course you’re not gonna have a Duel Gazer! You can’t even see the duel... oh man, do you want to borrow mine?” 

 

Nash huffed. “Then you won’t be able to see it,” he pointed out. “I don’t need it. This is fine. But... tell me about this dueling. How does it work?”

 

~.~.~

 

Yuma had absolutely no idea how dueling worked. 

 

That wasn’t entirely fair. Yuma clearly knew the fundamentals of how the card game functioned, but his explanations were confused at best, and he kept stumbling over the details when Nash pressed him. He seemed more interested in what kind of cool combos he’d seen than in the precise reasons why and how they worked. 

 

In the end, they compromised by having Nash just look up lists of cards and rulings on Yuma’s Duel Pad. “But that’s so boring!” Yuma complained, only to be ignored. 

 

It turned out that several of his classmates were hanging around at the shopping mall as well, and they thankfully distracted him, leaving Nash in peace to familiarize himself with the modern ‘dueling’ — a combination of technology and magic that no one seemed to even be consciously aware of, but which they could certainly feel deep in their souls and which drew them to it. 

 

‘I can’t gather much from just watching,’ Shark thought. ‘But if I participate... that might be the quickest way to get more Chaos energy in this world.’ 

 

Obtaining the physical cards would have been ideal, but he could create them for himself based on the online card catalogs. It would even be simple, given the inherently mystical nature of Duel Monster cards. He just had to choose which ones — there were certainly many. 

 

Many sharks too. ‘Humans... have good taste sometimes,’ Nash thought, tapping another card on the Duel Pad to add it to the online deck he was constructing as practice. 

 

His gaze snapped up as he sensed someone approach him. He’d situated himself into a corner of the court, out of the way — habitually making sure to protect his back and that no one could take him by surprise. It was something all the Barian Emperors had in common, and he had been surprised to realize that the humans around him didn’t do the same. 

 

The one running up to him was Yuma, of course. While Nash had drawn a few curious looks because of his odd attire, no one had paid him much attention otherwise.  

 

“Here! I got us lunch!” Yuma said brightly, thrusting out one of the burgers he was holding. 

 

Nash accepted it somewhat dubiously. It smelled surprisingly appealing, but did he even need to eat? Not as a Barian, certainly, but perhaps in this human form... Yuma was already quickly demolishing his own burger. Eyes locked on another duel that had started up a little further away, he bounced distractedly on the balls of his feet. 

 

Because Nash had been using his Duel Pad, Yuma hadn’t been able to duel despite his obvious excitement. Even so, he hadn’t said anything and even now didn’t urge Nash to hurry up. 

 

“...Here,” Nash said, holding out the duel disk. 

 

Yuma accepted it with a puzzled look. “You’re done?” 

 

“Yeah.” Close enough. He remember the cards he’d chosen, and the Duel Pad would save the electronic deck for later. The rest, he could fill in with monsters and spells he’d known himself, converting them to card form. “...Thanks.” 

 

“No problem! Dueling is great, right?” Yuma said brightly. Tucking the Duel Pad under his arm, he quickly stuffed the last bite of his burger into his mouth and crumpled up the wrapper. “I’m gonna duel! You wanna watch? It’ll be great!” 

 

That hadn’t been what he meant, but Shark just nodded. It would be useful, he thought. 

 

...He regretted it shortly. Yuma dueled about as well as he explained Duel Monsters theory — with great enthusiasm but not much attention to detail. 

 

~.~.~

 

Yuma stared at Nash in surprise and, for the first time, uncertainty. After everything — the mysterious appearance, the giant he claimed to have seen, the form changes, the materialization, the blatantly inhuman feats — it was this that he seemed ready to protest. Humans were truly bizarre. 

 

“You’re going out?” Yuma repeated. “Are you sure? I mean, it’s really late, and it’s still raining pretty hard. You know, my dad said that exploring after dark alone is ten times as dangerous.” 

 

“You were out alone after dark just yesterday,” Nash pointed out dryly, “when you picked us up.” 

 

“Guh!” Yuma flinched theatrically. “But! I know Heartland! And I was just walking around. You look like you’re going to do something... erm, something!” 

 

He probably looked like he was going to pick a fight. Even Yuma, who couldn’t recognize the hard determination with which Nash prepared, had picked up on some of that. ‘I should have just snuck out after he went to sleep,’ Nash thought. 

 

“I’ll come with you!” Yuma offered brightly. “Come on! I want to have an adventure too!” 

 

“Absolutely not!” Nash snapped. There wasn’t a single chance he’d take Yuma along where he was going. 

 

Just passively gathering energy wouldn’t be enough. And while duels brought out the latent power of normal people, it was still nothing more than a game. No, real Chaos energy was nurtured by deep darkness, Nash knew. Strong negative feelings created strong power. And to find that, hunting at night was the best option. 

 

Hunting alone — Yuma was just a normal kid. The least Nash could do was not drag him into danger. 

 

Hesitating, he softened a little and added, “Look after Marin, okay?” 

 

That was enough. “Marin...? Oh!” Yuma repeated in surprise, then grinned. “Roger that! I’ll take care of her, I promise!” 

 

~.~.~


End file.
